In the new field of Body Weight Supported Treadmill Training (BWSTT), used for human gait training in rehabilitation, fitness and sports performance enhancement, there have been previously two methods of lifting the body weight of clients or patients off of the ground or off of a treadmill. The most common and oldest method uses various types of parachute-like harnesses fit to the body, and then attached to a lifting frame or other apparatus whereby the body weight of the client could be partially removed during gait training. A second method exists in the field of BWSTT where the client is lifted in a chamber of air where a pressure differential can be altered to partially remove the body weight of the client.
Patients who suffer from various orthopedic and neurological conditions, such as hip replacement or stroke, for example, frequently suffer from limited movement capability severely compounded by the weight of the body. As such, the legs of such patients may not be able to completely or even partially bear the patient's weight during gait training. Further, many people are not able to fitness train because of the weight of their bodies causing pain to various orthopedic conditions and cumulative impact injuries to even healthy tissue while running or walking on treadmills. Further yet, many athletes benefit from performance enhancement capabilities such as over-speed training, stride lengthening, power and interval training without impact damage and with fewer recovery days
In the field of BWSTT, there exists the need to which the present invention is addressed for a portable, affordable, unweighted therapy, exercise and training device which is capable of supporting a client in a completely weightless and partially weightless manner during each complete gait cycle while engaged in rehabilitative gait training, fitness exercise and sports performance enhancement exercise; and the need for a device is tolerable for long time period treatment; and the need to allow for differential weight bearing to each leg; and to allow for lifting the legs from the treadmill completely between strides allowing the user to run or walk faster or slower than the treadmill speed.